Acknowledgments

I used to think that writing was a solitary activity, ideally done in a tower by candlelight. Now I know that writing a book, like all worthwhile pursuits, takes a village, and the most important people in that village are the readers. Thank you, readers! Thank you for your e-mails, letters, and posts. Thank you for telling me how my books touched you. Thank you for reading. You’re why I write!

Thank you to my writing partners, Alison Clement and Susan Rodgers, for your critique, encouragement, friendship, and community. Thank you to Bill and the Interzone for providing us with a place to meet. If I ever run out of quirky characters, I’ll just take my eyes of the screen and look around.

Thank you to Anna Burke for reading my work and letting me fan-girl all over your novels. I’m kind of jealous that you’re that young and that talented, but I’ll let it slide if you keep writing.

Thank you to all my friends and colleagues at Linn-Benton Community College and to all the friends, near and far, who make my life rich. Thank you to the singers—LP, the Revivalists, the Decemberists, Tegan and Sara, and so many more—whose music inspired me as I worked. Thank you to Sam Guy for help with social media, publicity, and generally keeping me up-to-date with the 21st Century.

Thank you to Portland—Stumptown, Bridgetown, P-Town, PDX, the Rose City, my urban love—for being just as curious and delightful as in the book. (Don’t forget to visit the Peculiarium, folks!) Thank you to Old Portland Hardware & Architectural for being the model for Hellenic Hardware, although Hippo Hardware played a role too. That’s where the Land of Lamps comes from.

Thank you to director Dean Devlin and his crew for letting me hang out on set and learn just enough about film production to get the details wrong. Sorry, guys! I’m sure King & Crown is using the wrong cameras (but it’s romance; we’re in it for the feels). Thank you to John Friendlander for telling me to wear a vest with lots of pockets when I went on set, so I looked like the crew. I think it worked.

Thank you to Lambda Literary the Golden Crown Literary Society for all you do to support the lesbian writing community.

Thank you to Jane Dystel and her agency for being my friends in the wide world of publishing. Thank you to Madeleine Colavita and the staff at Forever Yours for making this book the best it could possibly be.

Thank you to my parents, Elin and Albert Stetz, for providing a beautiful model for happily ever after. And as always, thank you to my wife, Fay; when I heard my first love story, I started looking for you.